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Fiesta Notes: Brown’s football career won’t end with Fiesta loss

Kansas State middle linebacker Arthur Brown’s college career ended in the Wildcats’ 35-7 loss to No. 5 Oregon in Thursday night’s Fiesta Bowl, but his football career could still have legs.

Brown will play in the Senior Bowl on Jan. 26 in Mobile, Ala., and his nine tackles against the Ducks gave him 100 for the season — his second straight year leading K-State in tackles. He had 101 tackles in 2011.

With the size and speed to be an NFL linebacker at 6-foot-1 and 231 pounds, the Wichita East product doesn’t have a specific plan for his future, but he does have a general one.

“I’m relying a lot on my parents and talking to them and their guidance,” Brown said. “They’ve been ag reat support in my life and I’m going to continue to depend on them.”

Brown has a couple of built-in advantages already in place — he received his Bachelor’s degree last May and his younger brother, Bryce, has already been through the draft process, being picked by the Philadelphia Eagles in last year’s NFL Draft.

“I’ve got my diploma, but I’m not sure what I want to do with it yet,” Arthur Brown said. “I don’t know where (my future) is going to take me, but I learned a lot of things in my time here, mainly how to be unselfish and how to really put a team first. That comes from Coach (Bill) Snyder.”

You think you’ve seen everything — Yes, a one-point safety exists.

Proof was found after Kansas State defensive lineman Shaq Boyd blocked an extra-point attempt by Oregon with 8:03 to play in the third quarter. The Wildcats’ Ryan Mueller recovered the ball in front of the goal line, then tried to return it and ran back into the end zone before a lateral to Allen Chapman, who was tackled still in the end zone.

Referees discussed the play and ruled it a conversion safety and awarded the Ducks one point to make the score 32-10.

Referee Ron Cherry, from the Big East Conference, began his explanation with, “We have an unusual ruling on the field.”

The point gave Oregon a 32-10 lead.

Famous fans — Two of the stars of the hit comedy “Modern Family” were honorary captains for the Fiesta Bowl. Eric Stonestreet (Kansas State) and Ty Burrell (Oregon) did interviews with ESPN’s Holly Rowe on the field about an hour-and-a-half before the game, with Stonestreet decked out in K-State gear and Burrell representing the Ducks.

Stonestreet is a K-State graduate from Kansas City, Kan. Burrell is from Grants Pass, Ore., and attended Oregon before graduating from Southern Oregon University.

“Just pay us what you can, OK?” Burrell joked with Fiesta Bowl officials. “Whatever you can round up would be great.”

Questionable calls — Oregon benefited from two questionable no-calls in the first half on late hits. Both involved Collin Klein.

First, the senior quarterback was tackled well out of bounds after a running play, but no penalty was called. Then Oregon linebacker Kiko Alonso hit Klein helmet to helmet while Klein was trying to fight for yards amid a mob of players near the Oregon goal line. Afterward, Alonso also hit him with his forearm. Again, no penalty was called.

Honoring Newtown — Kansas State honored the victims of December’s shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., with stickers on the back of their helmets during the Fiesta Bowl.

The stickers had a black ribbon next to the Newtown seal — a rooster weather vane with the words “Town of” above and “Newtown” below, and the year the town was incorporated, 1705, next to the rooster.

On Dec. 14, 26 people were killed at Sandy Hook, including 20 children.

Worth noting – Cody Whitehair took over for Tavon Rooks at right tackle after Rooks suffered an injury in the first half.… Oregon’s De’Anthony Thomas was the first player in Fiesta Bowl history to take the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, going 94 yards for a score.

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